Songs of Christmas: O Come O COme Emmanuel
|Back in 2012, I decided to use the blog posts leading up to Christmas to explore the stories behind and meanings of various songs we sing in the Christmas season. … Continued
A Book I’m Thankful For
|There are many things I am thankful for this year, one of which is a book I recently read: Christopher Watkin’s Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible’s Unfolding Story Makes … Continued
Did Jesus Say He Would Return Before the Disciples Died?
|Christians are united in their belief that Jesus will return, but have developed different views about how they think it will unfold. Various views have emerged because there are a … Continued
What and When Not to “Give to Caesar”?
|“Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Mark 12:17). This is one of the most famous and memorable statements from Jesus, … Continued
Dealing with Differences Between the Gospels
|The New Testament contains four accounts of the life of Jesus: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; these writings are commonly called “gospels.” Each features some material not found in the … Continued
Jesus’s Reformation of How We Read the Bible
|Martin Luther’s posting of the 95 Theses on October 31,1517 is viewed as the event that started the renewal movement of the 1500’s known as the Reformation – and the … Continued
What Does It Mean That Jesus is “The Son of Man”?
|As I have highlighted before, the Gospel of Mark shows us that Jesus is the Son of God. Interestingly, this title for Jesus appears in the opening verse of the … Continued
What Happened to Mark 7:16?
|This weekend at Faith Church we looked at Mark 7:1-23, a passage that not only points out that all food is clean (verse 19), but also that we are all … Continued
Why the Déjà Vu View Miracle? The Feeding of the 4,000
|All four gospels recount Jesus’s feeding of the 5,000 (Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:32-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-15), but two of the gospels also mention a very similar miracle – the … Continued
Jesus’s Miraculous Object Lessons in Mark
|Jesus was known in his time and today as a teacher and miracle worker. This dual emphasis of his ministry can lead to separate discussions on these topics, focusing at … Continued
Jesus’s Teaching in the “Teachable Moments” of Mark 2:1-3:6
|We know the importance of life’s “teachable moments,” when we are in a situation that brings about interest in the topic. While my brief research into the idea of “teachable … Continued
Mark’s Surprising Presentation of Jesus as the Son of God
|This past weekend, Faith Church kicked off a sermon series called, “Jesus, Son of God” that explores accounts of Jesus’s ministry in the Gospel of Mark. This is a perfect … Continued
Proverbs and Job
|Labor Day is often viewed as the unofficial end of summer and beginning of fall. For those participating in Faith Church’s 4-Year Bible Reading Plan called Cover to Cover, Labor … Continued
The Proverbs 31 Woman in Her (Literary) Context
|As I write this post, those who are participating in Faith Church’s 4-Year Bible Reading Plan called Cover to Cover are finishing up a journey through the Old Testament Book … Continued
Who Was Titus?
|Someone recently asked me what we are currently studying in our sermons at Faith Church. I was about to say “Titus” when I realized that although this answer was correct, … Continued
Deciphering Daniel 11 (Part 3: Daniel 11:36-45)
|In our journey through Daniel 11 in the last two blog posts, we’ve seen how the details of this chapter can make it hard to understand but that there is … Continued
Deciphering Daniel 11 (Part 2: Daniel 11:21-35)
|The previous post looked at the background and first part of Daniel 11 – a challenging chapter to understand in this Old Testament book that features exciting narratives but also … Continued
Deciphering Daniel 11 (Part 1: Daniel 11:1-20)
|Many children’s movies these days seek to appeal to adults as well as the kids through the inclusion of jokes or references that only the adults may understand. However, there … Continued
Praying Like Nehemiah
|The Bible does not just give us exhortations to pray, as it also provides examples of what prayer looks like. I must confess that I have paid more attention to … Continued
Understanding and Appreciating the Misunderstood and Underappreciated Ten Commandments
|I spent much time over the past week thinking about the Ten Commandments since Faith Church’s summer sermon series through the Old Testament Book of Exodus took us to the … Continued